TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Letter from the Secretary-General 2. Letter from the Under Secretary-General 3. Historical Background - 4. Beginning of the Committee 5. The DEA 6. The Cartels a. The Cartel b. c. Cártel Nueva Generación 7. Maps 8. Character Matrix a. CARTELS b. GOVERNMENT 9. Bibliography

1. Letter from the Secretary-General

Distinguished Participants,

As the Secretary-General of YÜKOMUN’20, it is a pleasure for me to welcome you all to the Yükselen Model United Nations Online Conference. To briefly introduce myself, my name is Burak Yağız Güllü, I am currently a high school student in Yükselen Science High School and I'm also dealing with coding and electronic projects.

Since the beginning of my MUN journey I always dreamed of organizing my own conference with a successful and hardworking team and first INFIMUN is my pupil. However, YUKOMUN'20 was the first and best conference that I will do for my school. I hope you will be satisfied with our hard-working academic and organizational team and executive board. Welcome to a conference that will distract you during the prolonged online MUN period and hopefully give you an amazing experience.

I would like to thank three special people, our Academic Advisor Ceylin Kızılkaya ,our Director-General Levent Şahin and our Deputy Director-General Çağan Şimşek. They always supported me no matter what and gave their best to organize YUKOMUN’20. Our conference would not be able to accomplish without them.

We are more than honored to see you in our family. I hope you have fun and an unforgettable experience during YUKOMUN’20.

Best Regards,

Secretary-General of YUKOMUN’20

Burak Yağız Güllü

2. Letter from the Under-Secretary-General

Esteemed Delegates,

It is my utmost honor to welcome you all to YUKOMUN 2020 as the Under Secretary General of the Joint Crisis Committee.

I have chosen a subject I believe to be a good fit for the JCC format and fun to engage with. The Mexican drug war is a topic everybody has heard of in one way or another at some point, and is a popular theme in TV series and movies. The subject also allows for a wide variety of interactions with the setting, from military strategy to diplomacy. I personally have spent the recent past reading as much as i could about the Mexican drug war and it was not only fun but a different perspective on the history of the American continent.

I am very humbled by the opportunity to present this to anybody willing to attend. I hope you all have as much fun as I did and have an unforgettable conference, despite its distanced nature.

If you have any questions about the committee, feel free to contact me at [email protected]. I’ll also be present during the conference to help anybody with any questions they might have.

Kindest Regards,

Under Secretary General Ozan Teo Sarac

3. Historical Background - The Mexican Drug War The Mexican Drug War, or the Mexican is the portion of the global war on drugs that takes part throughout , with occasional spillover across international borders into , Arizona, New Mexico and , as well as into the neighbouring countries of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize and Guatemala. It is a conflict between the Mexican government and regional drug trafficking organizations (often referred to as cartels), although recently the military has been involved in numerous operations against the heads of the cartels, many resulting in high-profile arrests. These arrests have been pointed to as a significant factor behind the decline in the power of the aforementioned cartels.

From a geopolitical perspective, it is easy to understand why Mexico has long been used as a staging and transshipment point for narcotics and contraband between the Latin American and U.S. markets.

Mexican smugglers truly earned the notoriety they are known for today towards the end of the 1960’s, with the help of Columbian Pablo Escobar’s exports and during the 1970s and early 1980s, while Escobar's Medellin Cartel and the would manufacture the products, Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo's Cartel would oversee distribution. When enforcement efforts intensified in South and the Caribbean, the Colombian organizations formed partnerships with the Mexico-based traffickers to transport cocaine by land through Mexico into the .

This was easily accomplished because Mexico had long been a major source of heroin and , and drug traffickers from Mexico had already established an infrastructure that stood ready to serve the -based traffickers. By the mid-1980s, the organizations from Mexico were well-established and reliable transporters of Colombian cocaine. At first, the Mexican gangs were paid in cash for their transportation services, but in the late 1980s, the Mexican transport organizations and the Colombian drug traffickers settled on a payment-in- product arrangement. Transporters from Mexico usually were given 35% to 50% of each cocaine shipment. This arrangement meant that organizations from Mexico became involved in the distribution, as well as the transportation of cocaine, and became formidable traffickers in their own right. In recent years, the and the have taken over trafficking cocaine from Colombia to the worldwide markets

The balance of power between the various Mexican cartels continually shifts as new organizations emerge and older ones weaken and collapse. A disruption in the system, such as the arrests or deaths of cartel leaders, generates bloodshed as rivals move in to exploit the power

vacuum. Leadership vacuums are sometimes created by law enforcement successes against a particular cartel, so cartels often will attempt to pit law enforcement against one another, either by bribing corrupt officials to take action against a rival or by leaking intelligence about a rival's operations to the Mexican or U.S. government's Drug Enforcement Administration.

4. Beginning of the Committee

Date: March 2019. Location: Mexico.

El Chapo has escaped, and has since been welcomed as the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, putting Garcia into the number 2 spot and has united the two sides of the war among cartels against a common enemy: the Mexican government. He was able to do this by securing the escapes of leaders from both sides and filling the lack of leadership caused by their incarceration. It was obvious that the cartels held very little power compared to their golden age and it was fortunate that they had the men and guns to wage the biggest war Mexico had ever seen.

They were so close. After almost a century of what can only be described as war, the mexican government was proud of its dismantlement of the criminal hierarchy. As crime lord after crime lord fell, the power vacuum led to inner conflicts among the cartels, and it was almost over. Until that bastard Chapo escaped. His capture and imprisonment was a symbol of the prevalence of justice, and was the end of an era of crime. But now that he was on the loose, he had not stopped wreaking havoc. The government could not face the embarrassment of so many escapes, and neither could the Americans. It was mostly their fault, and they acted like it. They couldn't risk news getting out, so they promised their absolute support in the upcoming conflict.

The goal of the cartels is clear: annihilate any chance of government intervention with their operations, forever. Seize cities, destroy facilities, kill soldiers.

5. The DEA

The Drug Enforcement Administration is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the United States. The DEA is the lead agency for domestic enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act, sharing concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Department of Homeland Security. It has sole responsibility for coordinating and pursuing US drug investigations both domestic and abroad.

The DEA is headed by an Administrator of Drug Enforcement appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The DEA's headquarters is located in Arlington, Virginia across from the Pentagon. It maintains its own DEA Academy located on the Marine Corps Base Quantico at Quantico, Virginia along with the FBI Academy. It maintains 23 domestic field divisions with 222 field offices and 92 foreign offices in 70 countries. With a budget exceeding $3 billion, DEA employs 10,169 people, including 4,924 Special Agents and 800 Intelligence Analysts.

6. The Cartels

The beginnings of most Mexican cartels can be traced back to former Mexican Judicial Federal Police officer Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, also known as ‘El Padrino’ or ‘The Godfather’, who founded the in 1980 and went on to control most of the drug trade across the US-Mexico border. The operation started with the smuggling of marijuana and opium, but Gallardo went on to become the first to channel Colombian cocaine through Mexico. With these newfound connections, he came to the forefront of the Medellin cartel, run by Pablo Escobar. An important thing to note is that there were no other cartels at the time in Mexico. Félix Gallardo was the lord of Mexican drug smugglers. He oversaw all operations; there was just him, his cronies, and the politicians who sold him protection. However, the Guadalajara Cartel suffered a major blow in 1985 when the group's co-founder was captured, and later convicted, for the murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena.

Félix Gallardo was arrested on April 8, 1989. He then decided to divide up the trade he controlled as it would be more efficient and less likely to be brought down in one law enforcement swoop. In a way, he was privatizing the Mexican drug business while sending it back underground, to be run by bosses who were less well known or not yet known by the DEA. Gallardo sent his lawyer to convene the nation's top drug traffickers at a house in Acapulco where he designated the plazas or territories.

The route would go to his nephews the Arellano Felix brothers. The Ciudad Juárez route would go to the Carrillo Fuentes family. Miguel Caro Quintero would run the corridor. Meanwhile, Joaquín Guzmán Loera and Ismael Zambada García would take over Pacific coast operations, becoming the Sinaloa Cartel. Guzmán and Zambada brought veteran Héctor Luis Palma Salazar back into the fold. The control of the Matamoros, corridor—then becoming the Gulf Cartel—would be left undisturbed to its founder Juan García Ábrego, who was not a party to the 1989 pact.

a. The Sinaloa Cartel (The Pacific Cartel, The Federation, The Blood Alliance)

Headquarters: Culiacan, Sinaloa Active Regions: , Durango, Sonora, Activities: Drug Trafficking, Money Laundering, Weapon Trafficking Leader: Ismael Zambada García (El Mayo) Specialty: Bribery/Corruption, Wealthiest Cartel Worth 4 Billion USD

The Sinaloa Cartel began to contest the Gulf Cartel's domination of the coveted southwest Texas corridor following the arrest of Gulf Cartel leader Osiel Cárdenas in March 2003. The "Federation" was the result of a 2006 accord between several groups located in the Pacific state of Sinaloa. The cartel was led by Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, who was Mexico's most-wanted drug trafficker with an estimated net worth of U.S. $1 billion, making him the 1140th richest man in the world and the 55th most powerful, according to his Forbes magazine profile.

The Sinaloa Cartel fought the Juárez Cartel in a long and bloody battle for control over drug trafficking routes in and around the northern city of Ciudad Juárez. The battle eventually resulted in defeat for the Juárez Cartel but not before taking the lives of between 5,000 and 12,000 people.

As of May 2010, numerous reports by Mexican and U.S. media stated that Sinaloa had infiltrated the Mexican federal government and military, and colluded with it to destroy the other cartels.

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán was arrested on January 8, 2016, and extradited to the United States a year later. On February 4, 2019, in Brooklyn, NY, he was found guilty of ten counts of drug trafficking and sentenced to life imprisonment. Guzman's defense was that he was simply a fall-guy for Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, but prosecutors did not buy that. "El Chapo" alleged that he had paid former presidents Enrique Peña Nieto and Felipe Calderón bribes, which was quickly denied by both men. In March 2019, El Chapo's successor, Ismael Zambada García, alias “El Mayo,” was reported to be Mexico's "last Capo" and even more feared than his closest rival Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho,” who serves as leader of the Jalisco Cartel New Generation.

Figure 1.1: Drug bust of warehouse belonging to the Sinaloa cartel

Figure 1.2: Weapons found inside base belonging to Sinaloa cartel

b. Los Zetas (Golfos, CDG)

Headquarters: Tamaulipas Active Regions: Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Chiapas, , Tlaxcala, Hidalgo, Querétaro, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Guanajuato, , Aguascalientes, Michoacan Activities: Drug Trafficking, Human Trafficking, Ransom, Contract Killing, Prostitution Leader: Miguel Treviño Morales (La Mona) Specialty: Severe Violence, Beheadings, Torture, Terrorism

In 1999, Gulf Cartel's leader, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, hired a group of 37 corrupt former elite military soldiers to work for him. These former Airmobile Special Forces Group (GAFE), and Amphibian Group of Special Forces (GANFE) soldiers became known as Los Zetas and began operating as a private army for the Gulf Cartel. During the early 2000s the Zetas were instrumental in the Gulf Cartel's domination of the drug trade in much of Mexico.

After the 2007 arrest and extradition of Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, the Zetas seized the opportunity to strike out on their own. Under the leadership of Heriberto Lazcano, the Zetas, numbering about 300, gradually set up their own independent drug, arms and human-trafficking networks. In 2008, Los Zetas made a deal with ex-Sinaloa cartel commanders, the Beltrán-Leyva brothers and since then, became rivals of their former employer/partner, the Gulf Cartel.

In early 2010 the Zetas made public their split from the Gulf Cartel and began a bloody war with the Gulf Cartel over control of northeast Mexico's drug trade routes. This war has resulted in the deaths of thousands of cartel members and suspected members. Furthermore, due to alliance structures, the Gulf Cartel-Los Zetas conflict drew in other cartels, namely the Sinaloa Cartel which fought the Zetas in 2010 and 2011.

The Zetas are notorious for targeting civilians, including the mass murder of 72 migrants in the San Fernando massacre.

The Zetas involved themselves in more than drug trafficking and have also been connected to human trafficking, pipeline trafficked oil theft and extortion. Their criminal network is said to reach far from Mexico including into Central America, the U.S. and Europe.

Figure 1.3: Footage showing Los Zetas executing members of Sinaloa Cartel

Figure 1.4: Los Zetas members showing their arsenal

c. Jalisco New Generation Cartel

Headquarters: Jalisco Active Regions: Jalisco, , Aguascalientes, , Guanajuato, Veracruz Activities: Drug Trafficking, Arms Trafficking, Human Trafficking, Petroleum Theft Leader: Nemesia Oseguera Cervantes (El Mencho) Specialty: Heavily Armed and Organized Paramilitary Group

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is a Mexican criminal group based in Jalisco and headed by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes , one of Mexico's most-wanted drug lords. Jalisco New Generation Cartel started as one of splits of the other being . La Resistencia accused CJNG of giving up Oscar Valencia to the authorities and called them Los Torcidos (The Twisted Ones). Jalisco Cartel defeated La Resistencia and took control of Millenio Cartel's smuggling networks. Jalisco New Generation Cartel expanded its operation network from coast to coast in only six months, making it one of the criminal groups with the greatest operating capacity in Mexico as of 2012. Through online videos, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel has tried to seek society's approval and tacit consent from the Mexican government to confront Los Zetas by posing as a "righteous" and "nationalistic" group. Such claims have stoked fears that Mexico, just like Colombia a generation before, may be witnessing the rise of paramilitary drug gangs. By 2018 the CJNG was hyped as the most powerful cartel in Mexico, though Insight Crime has said the Sinaloa Cartel is still the most powerful cartel and called the CJNG its closest rival.

Figure 1.5: Flag of “Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación”

Figure 1.6: Members of CJNC

7. Maps

8. Character Matrix a. CARTELS El Chapo (Chair) Ismael Zambada García (El Mayo) | Sinaloa Cartel Nemesia Oseguera Cervantes (El Mencho) | JCNG Ovidio Guzman Lopez (El Raton) | Sinaloa Cartel Juan Manuel Loza Salinas (El Toro) | Los Zetas Erick Valencia Salazar (El 85) | JCNG Eric Guerra (El Antrax) | Sinaloa Cartel Jose Marques (El Serpiente) | Los Zetas Fausto Isidro Meza Flores (El Chapo Isidro) | Sinaloa Cartel Manuel Rodrigo Torres (La Salamandra) | JCNG Andrik Torrego(El Craw) | Sinalo Cartel Eduarda Lorenzo | JCNG

b. GOVERNMENT

Luis Cresencio Sandoval (President and Chair) Mark Devin (DEA representative) Mark Derosa (DEA representative) Christopher Landau (US Ambassador to Mexico) Carlos Perez (Commander of the Special Forces) Jose Duran (Commander of the Navy) Jesus Sanchez (2nd General of the Army) Hector Ortiz (Cartel Force Commander) Alejandro Mendoza (Treasurer of State) Alejandro Gertz Manero (Attorney General) Audomaro Martinez Zapata (Executive of Mexican Intelligence) Alfonso Durazo (Secretary of Security and Civilian Protection)

9. Bibliography

https://web.archive.org/web/20120314192134/http://stanford.edu/~dkronick/mexico_crime/ http://www.insightcrime.org/mexico-organized-crime-news https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:History_of_drug_control https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:2006_in_Mexico https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Organized_crime_conflicts_in_Mexico https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Organized_crime_conflicts_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:2010s_in_Mexico https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Mexican_Drug_War https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-40480405 https://apnews.com/hub/drug-cartels https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/the-sicilianization-of-mexican-drug-cartels/ https://www.npr.org/2020/07/23/893561899/as-mexicos-dominant-cartel-gains-power-the-president- vows-hugs-not-bullets https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sinaloa-cartel https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-10-19/el-chapo-sinaloa-cartel-culiacan